As news broke that administrative patent judges of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board must return to in-person work, IAM Magazine quoted Bracewell’s Kit Crumbley, a former lead administrative judge, that PTAB judges working farther away will have to return to offices as soon as the US Patent and Trademark Office obtains more office space.
“As a former APJ, I have significant concerns about the rapid timeline and logistics of this directive. The PTAB’s remote work policy was established long before the pandemic and has been crucial in recruiting and retaining highly qualified judges with specialized technical and legal expertise – many of whom have established homes across the country while maintaining their judicial duties effectively,” noted Crumbley. “This sudden mandate threatens to trigger significant attrition of experienced judges. … It could significantly impact PTAB operations and the broader patent community.”
